5 Work Outfits for Christmas

When you work somewhere that’s pretty lenient on dress code, it’d be a shame to not at least try wearing lolita. Whilst I’m still pretty new to my office, everyone’s been very accepting and positive about my more casual otome and vintage-inspired looks. So how far could I take it? I decided to use December as an excuse to push things a little bit and experiment. On top of my challenge of wearing festive themed or inspired looks to work I decided to wear five lolita looks with Lady Sloth’s Winter Spices skirt.

Look 1: December 12th

| ARROW blouse | Angelic Pretty Twinkle Glitter Knit cardigan | Angelic Pretty Lovely Ribbon OTKs | Hush Puppies boots | offbrand boot toppers | Haruhi Clover headbow | Beckies Kawaii Charms ring | Sweet Dolly House ring | Claire’s earrings |

This was the first look that I did. By that point I had already worn these boots and toppers (and gotten lots of Miss Christmas comments from my co-workers), as well as been wearing that cardigan that week. It’s probably a little on the dressy side, yet somehow still seemed pretty chill. From this I learnt two things: that I love this headband for casual looks and that OTKs are ok for office jobs if I put them on upon arriving and over tights. Truth be told, I was a little hesitant about the headbow because I’d never worn such an obvious lolita accessory to work before. However, no-one even mentioned it, so my previous looks either desensitised the office to this or it was a minute enough detail in comparison. As for the OTKs, my usual problem is that they slide or roll down, which is awful when you’re walking to/from/at the meet. But even though these particular ones only just go over my knees, as I spend most of my day sitting, it really didn’t matter. Plus, this skirt is long enough to reach just a touch below my knees, so even if the socks slid down, it was hardly noticeable. Overall, I enjoyed this coord a lot, more than I anticipated. The lighter colours lifted this otherwise dark shade of red and the golds highlighted the honey bits of the print without making that orangey yellow too prominent. I feel like this is something I would absolutely re-wear.

Look 2: December 13th

| Angelic Pretty Logo Embroidered Turtleneck cutsew | Haenuli Secret Garden tights | Innocent World shoes | Lady Sloth Winter Spices necklace | Beckies Kawaii charms ring | Two Days Slow hair clips | offbrand beret | Claire’s earrings |

Damn, I knew I’d forget something! This coord was supposed to be the same as what I put together in the last reassessment post, but of course I forgot the Butterkeks brooch. And I kept thinking that something was missing. Oh well… Although I did wear the beret on my way to work, I wasn’t going to sit with it on inside the office, so for most of the day I only had the two bow clips that kept it attached to my head. I really wish that I had a nicer cardigan and some less themed shoes with this. They’re not major issues, but I feel like they’d make the coord more polished and a bit more me. Certainly compared to the previous outfit this was very much a laid back, casual territory. And that’s fine, that was a Friday, the week was long and I was very much just on a final countdown to breaking up for Christmas. It was nice to wear something less involved for a change. That day was also when the results of the UK General Election were announced. Whilst I can’t vote in those and my outfit idea was focused on being festive and working with the print, I’m not going to complain about accidentally showing off my political allegiance.

Look 3: December 16th

| Axes Femme blouse | Innocent World Origa OTKs | Sosic Shop heels | Mojiangxiaopu hair clip | Claire’s hair clip | Innocent World wrist cuffs | Twinkle Kitty Boutique rings | Beckie’s Kawaii Charms ring | Milkribbon Butterkeks brooch | vintage brooch | Claire’s ear stud | Axes Femme ear clips | offbrand necklace |

For this coordinate I wanted to play up all the browns in the print and it ended up a sort of chocolate look? My original idea for this look was brown socks and red shoes, but to be honest, I wasn’t feeling any of my red shoes for this. So I went with brown shoes instead and rather than try to match any of my red socks or tights, I opted for these socks with little pops of red in them. (Which, btw, Innocent World has in stock right now, so if you’ve been meaning to get something like this, now’s your chance!) I really like how this skirt looks with brown, there’s something quite comforting about this colour combination. The blouse cut is more on the classic side, although all the accessories managed to sweeten it up enough so as to not clash with the sweet print motifs. In the beginning I was a little self-conscious as I accessorised pretty sweetly and generously, even going for wrist cuffs (which help elongate the sleeves, as they hit just a touch short), but it’s actually been alright. Last week was the last week of teaching, so this week there were no students on campus and even the office has gradually gotten quieter and quieter. And no-one mentioned anything to me, so I assume it was fine. The bonus pic is to show that I was, in fact, wearing hair accessories. Clips over buns are great for casual wear, but less so for outfit pictures that showcase everything.

Look 4: December 17th

| Axes Femme cutsew | Cutie Creator headbow | Claire’s hair clip | Once Upon a Cookie Treat necklace | vintage brooch | Claire’s earrings | offbrand tights and shoes |

After going a bit more on Monday, I decided to keep Tuesday’s outfit more lowkey. And to save my energy, as the last week of work looked to be long and I had to choose my battles carefully. So whilst I could’ve easily spiced this outfit up with patterned legwear or my other Christmas jumper, or I could’ve tried something more outside the box with this skirt, there’s nothing wrong with a very casual outfit. Sometimes that’s just the one that you need. The gold collar on the cutsew is a nice little detail, which can pop a bit more when the rest of the outfit is kept simple. These velvet headbows from Cutie Creator are not only super cute, but also super unassuming, which makes them perfect for adding just a touch of cuteness to your day-to-day look. I could’ve easily worn that with a normie outfit and it wouldn’t draw much attention, but still added a spark of cute. What more can I say - this coord was primarily meant to be comfy and warm, and it delivered just that.

Look 5: December 18th

| offbrand cutsew | vintage cardigan | MuFish tights | Bodyline heels | Haruhi Clover headbow | After Midnight necklace | Twinkle Kitty Boutique rings | Claire’s earrings |

Our office-exclusive Christmas party fell on this day, so of course I had to amp up the festive vibes with this new-to-me vintage ugly Christmas jumper! I had actually been itching to wear it together with this skirt and must say that I’m pretty pleased with the result. Red and white is a classic Christmas colour combination, so there was little room to go wrong with it. Whilst I pondered whether to go a bit more out, since I was already wearing such a loud jumper, or whether to let that tacky jumper take centre stage, in the end I think I went with something in-between. I definitely could’ve played this up, for example by going with the red boots with fur toppers and a bigger headpiece. But I also could’ve completely downplayed it with just solid tights and a barette at the back of my head or something. This was enough to be a bit more festive and still office-appropriate. The jumper was certainly the star of the show and received some lovely compliments, which was really the point of this coord. If I were to wear this to an actual lolita meet rather than to the office, I’d use my Cutie Creator red x white headbow instead, done something fancier with my hair (or worn my short wig from Dalao Home) and put on more makeup than just blush and lipstick (at least an eyeliner too). But the fact that this outfit isn’t in fact that far away from what I’d do for a different occasion just goes to show that I have been wearing lolita to work, not just lolita-adjacent or inspired looks.

Final thoughts

Firstly, having done this mini-challenge I definitely will break the mold with my work outfits a bit more. Not very regularly, as this is still a bit more effort than I have energy for over extended periods of time, but certainly more so than I have now. With a little bit of advance planning it’s definitely possible, especially when you stick to the same main piece and don’t pressure yourself to always be original. Lolita fashion is something I do for myself, so while it was great that my colleagues appreciated and accepted my fashion choices, their validation isn’t why I do it. My main concern was being told that I don’t look professional enough for the office and to tone it down, but nothing like this happened, not even from those higher up. Whilst some of that may be due to people being more lenient at Christmas, it has encouraged me to try again at another time and see what happens.

Secondly, this mini-challenge will make the 1 Dress 4 Looks post with this skirt a Big Challenge. I feel like almost all the outfits that I already had in mind with it have been worn and showcased. Can I really create four more looks that are that different from what I’ve already done over that week? It won’t really affect how I actually wear the skirt because repeating outfits is both fun and practical (no having to think of what to wear). But for a blog I’d prefer to show something you may not have seen from me. This will certainly exercise my coordinating muscles and I am equally excited and scared.

Last but not least is a simple realisation that taking outfit shots after getting home was less of a hassle than I thought it would be, though it was still a minor disruption to my routine. For that week I kept my tripod out all the time, ready to be moved into position, attach my phone to it and snap away. However, having it out in the first place made me feel like my living room was messy. I prefer to keep my surroundings much more organised and clutter free than that, so it was not ideal. When I move again, I would love to have a space where the tripod could be permanently set up, just waiting to snap pictures, somewhere away from middle-of-the-room chillout areas. If I could have that then even though changing from my walking boots into the coordinate shoes felt like an extra thing to do, most of the times I managed it in between something else (e.g. while waiting for rice or pasta to cook). Knowing this might encourage me to take outfit photos of more casual looks more often. Might. First I do need some rest from working all that creative energy whilst also managing daily routine. That was as big an ask as I had anticipated it to be, so for most of the times I will probably stick to my crappy mirror selfies, if I do decide to document my outfits.

These are not the only times I’ve worn lolita to work during December, as you’ll know if you’ve followed my Instagram stories. However, those are the ones I made more effort to plan and photograph, as the others were put together the night before and snapped in one of the mirrors I now have available. If you missed them on the IG stories, then look out for the next blog post where they will be included in a big ol’ review of coords.

And as it’s Christmas Eve, let me take this opportunity to wish you all a fabulous Christmas, if you’re celebrating, and a peaceful time full of love and happiness if you’re not.